need help!!!handle wood keep cracking.

H

hammerfall

Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
221
i got a some knives had handle made of stablized hard wood and horns. but the wood won't stop cracking. i am not sure the excatly reason, but seems cold winter here playing major factor for it. everytime i took the handle outdoor in -30C(-22f) it will crack within a day or 2. and it seems harder the wood i choose, easier the crack will happen. what should i do?

i will post some picture of the cracked handles. stupit internet won't let me uploading photos.
 
Ummmmmm, most stuff doesn't respond well to -22f. Stabilized woods are just wood impregnated with another substance, often acrylic. Most acrylic's become fragile at low temps, and thus any tension on them from pins, adhesives, getting bumped.... causes cracks to form. I'd try sticking to things like G10 or micarta for the colder days. I'm sure some of the others will know which other options, including natural materials, will work. I just know that at those kinds of temps a lot of things start having issues.
 
hammerfall said:
(the) harder the wood i choose, easier the crack will happen. what should i do?
Click to expand...

If you want to keep the hardwood, fill the cracks and gaps with compund glue or alike to keep moisture from seeping into the wood handle and further crack and split the wood when in minus degrees. Make sure to dry before doing so!
Otherwise, jump over to leather stacked handles (also very comfortable in low degree enviroment). Other options are listed by remyrw above.

Consider that your bladesteel "may" behave different in -30C° as well.
 
Stacked birch bark is also traditionaly used in northern Scandinavia and Russia
 
With those kind of temperatures, I'd be prone to stick with traditional materials for scandi's. Birch is a favourite for good reason. The wood is used to going down to those kind of temps and is less prone to cracking. I bet the worse culprits for cracking are tropical hardwoods. There is still residual water within the cells of the wood and below freezing, can form ice crystals which can destroy the cells, leading to cracking.
 
That's something you don't want to do with a guitar either, incidentally. If you take it outside in a cold winter day, keep it in it's case for an hour or two once you go back inside for it to warm up slowly.. otherwise the finish will "check" .. the clear coat will crack to hell, depending on the material used. I only mention it because it may also apply to knives, though I've never tested it.
 
It may be hard to accept but the best thing will be to stay with the man made materials for knives with outside use. Frank
 
thanks guys. most of wood i used for knife handle seem easy to crack in winter here. i will try some birch g10 or micarta, tho i like the looks of more nature stuff. and sorry for the late reply. i think my old IP get banned from the website. the reply box is unclickable for some reason. i had to use another computer to post this, here are the photos of the cracked handle.

crackedhandle1.jpg

crackedhandle2.jpg

crackedhandle3.jpg


i used a program to get youtube unbanned in china. but then i couldn't post anything on the forum even after i delete that program. i had to use another computer to post. did my ip get banned from website or its china's firewall banned me from posting anything?
 
I had a knife with micarta and paracord in Antarctica for a summer. I believe it worked out.

Wayne Suhrbier
 
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